Introducing Ruby 2.6’s Endless Range On Christmas Day, 2018, Ruby 2.6 will be released with support for a new syntax denoting an endless range: 42..#=> 42..nil # yes, this is infinite! So why do we need this new syntax? Up to this point, it has been a bit clunky in Ruby to create an infinite range: 42..Float::INFINITY#=> 42..Infinity Nobody likes typing Float::INFINITY or 1.fdiv(0) over and over. It doesn’t seem like a nice solution to put forward as the idiomatic way…

Location and navigation using global positioning systems (GPS) is deeply embedded in our daily lives, and is particularly crucial to Uber’s services. To orchestrate quick, efficient pickups, our GPS technologies need to know the locations of matched riders and drivers, as well as provide navigation guidance from a driver’s current location to where the rider needs to be picked up, and then, to the rider’s chosen destination. For this process to work seamlessly, the location estimates for riders and drivers…

An interdisciplinary team of researchers from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and the School of Engineering & Applied Science is redefining the notion of a wisdom tooth. The team is developing a smart-tooth technology that could someday be used to detect early signs of certain diseases in high-risk patients by analyzing saliva or gingival crevicular fluid.
“Salivary-based biosensors have generated a lot of interest because of their potential for wide applications in medicine,” said Erica Lynn…

A user presses keys to select a top-level menu, submenu, and then click through options on a nested list to book a sightseeing activity through Airbnb. Credit: University of Washington Browsing through offerings on Airbnb means clicking on rows of photos to compare options from prospective hosts. This kind of table-based navigation is increasingly central to our digital lives – but it can be tedious or impossible for people who are blind or have low vision to navigate these modern…

At Uber Labs, our mission is to leverage insights and methodologies from behavioral science to help product and marketing teams improve the customer experience. Recently, we introduced mediation modeling, a statistical approach from academic research, to address user pain points. Mediation modeling goes beyond simple cause and effect relationships in an attempt to understand what underlying mechanisms led to a result. Using this type of analysis, we can fine-tune product changes and develop new ones that focus on the underlying…

By Mohit Goenka, Gnanavel Shanmugam, and Lance Welsh At Yahoo Mail, we’re constantly striving to upgrade our product experience. We do this not only by adding new features based on our members’ feedback, but also by providing the best technical solutions to power the most engaging experiences. As such, we’ve recently introduced a number of novel and unique revisions to the way in which we use Redux that have resulted in significant stability and performance improvements. Developers may find our…

Whilst many people have heard of AC-DC (most through the popular hard rock band from Australia), there are few people who actually know how AC-DC power works. The definition of each is actually fairly simple; AC stands for alternating current, and DC stands for direct current. Together, these two currents allow the majority of electronic devices in the world to work. In light of this, here is a basic rundown of AC-DC power and power supplies. How Does AC-DC Work?…

Marketing is the crux of every business! Be it a small business or large, lead generation and customer retention is always on the radar. Well, organizations leverage all means of marketing to keep their business going and email marketing plays a major role in the journey. This blog talks about, SendPulse, a medium of marketing which is coupled with the latest technology to make marketing simple. To start with, SendPulse is an integrated messaging platform that offers marketers bulk emails,…

Dharmendra Saraswat led a team that developed the UAS User Log, a web-based application that stores digital flight records for those using unmanned aerial systems. Credit: Purdue University A Purdue University researcher led development of a free, web-based application that will allow those using unmanned aerial systems (UAS) to easily log their flight-related data. The UAS User Log is a digital log book available around the world to serve those using UAS, or drones, for research, crop production, spray applications…

The goal of Daughter Engineering Day is to showcase the field of engineering and science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) careers to girls in grades six through nine and their parents. Photos by Brandan Haskell. A group of about 60 young women and about 60 parents arrived at Lafferre Hall on April 14 for the MU College of Engineering’s annual Daughter Engineering Day event. The goal of the event is to showcase the field of engineering and science, technology, engineering…